Tales, Tools, Trials and Triumphs of Being Blind in NYC

Beauty Tricks

I’ve been asked many times how I am able to do my makeup. This post is going to give the low-down of the tricks I’ve learned on how to do my daily makeup regimen. I figure most of the guys who have stumbled upon this post are already disinterested…maybe I’ll write a post about foreign cars, and how much I “care.” Ha.

I’ll break it down by category:

Face/foundation:
First I take some tweezers to the ol’ eyebrows. Now, obviously, I cannot see any eyebrow hairs that may not be where I want them. But, I can feel some of them. I basically tweeze randomly in areas I KNOW there is not supposed to be stray hairs and hope to hit a few. It generally works out, and I’ll get my eyebrows done about once every 6 weeks to keep them looking their best (thank goodness for $5 eyebrow jobs in Bay Ridge). Once I’ve grown tired of my random tweezings (or run out of time), I move on to foundation. Number one rule of doing makeup blind…NO liquids (except mascara). I use a pressed powder mineral foundation and a triangle sponge. I start off by applying some foundation to blemish areas. Then I take the flat part of the triangle and pat foundation over the rest of my face. I am careful about how much foundation I apply…better too little than too much. Once I’ve applied foundation, I pat my face with a clean triangle to ensure better blending and less cakiness. This usually does the job.

No blush for me. I never really blush in real life anyway, so not worried about it. I do use bronzer from time to time though.

Eyes:
This is the part where the most beauty tricks come into play. First, as much as I want to, I can no longer really see the color of any of my eye shadows. I still like to color-coordinate, however, so I’ve developed a way to tell the eye shadows apart. Lately, I’ve been using single color shadows that I’ve labeled on the bottom with Braille. I’m pretty amateur at reading the language, but I know all the letters and can get by slowly. So, I labeled the bottom of purple, for instance, with a Braille “P.” When applying daily eye shadow, I only use one color. It’s easier and more casual. I simply take my brush loaded what my preferred color and apply it to my lids up to the crease area, which is really easy to find since there’s a physical crease. I apply a bit of the same color in the crease and make a triangle at the end of the lid (toward my ear). Then I take a tissue and glide over the areas I don’t want shadow. Step one: done. Now it’s on to eyeliner. Again, liquid is OUT. I use a soft black pencil and dot along the bottom lash line (which again is super easy to find…because there are obviously lashes there. Then, using short strokes, I go over the entirety of my top lid line. Once this is complete, I use a smudge brush to even out the top line and make it softer, and run the same brush along my lower lid, from the lash line to the inner part of the eye, to give a soft black line. Step two: done. Mascara is a little tricky. I take the wand and slowly move it toward my eye, until I find the top lashes, and then coat them. Sometimes this results in me jabbing myself in the eye or acquiring a black dot that I may or may not notice, but it is worth it in my opinion.

Lips:
Generally, I slap some Burt’s Bees on and forget about applying any kind of lip color. When I do, it’s extremely easy. I’m sure you ladies have thrown lipstick or gloss on without a mirror, and that’s all I do.

And….VOILA! My daily makeup ritual is complete. AND……..I can do it in the dark: P

Speaking of beauty, I discovered a new trick a few days ago. I like to paint my toenails from time to time, and being the independent person I am, I like to try to do it myself, when possible. Unfortunately, this usually results in my toes looking like they’ve been massacred and are bleeding whatever color I’ve tried to apply…
The other day I had a “brilliant,” but time consuming idea. Using masking tape, I taped around every single toe. Then I went to town. Half an hour later, I peeled the tape off to find I had fairly decent looking toes (according to Adam). Sweet.

And there ya have it folks. The mystery of my of blind makeup application has been revealed…in excruciating detail. Sorry! :O

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3 thoughts on “Beauty Tricks”

You are such a pretty girl, you look just like I remember your mom looking,at your age. All woman love their make-up, you are lucky you don’t really need it,. but it is amazing how you get it done. That masking tape thing for your toe nails is a good idea ,I’m lousy at it myself. Keep up the good work,I love reading your blog.